Night fell and the group scene they spent all afternoon preparing for finally started filming.
Lu Fengyang was the school tyrant in middle school. In his first year of high school, he transferred to the 3rd High School. A few people beaten by him in middle school happened to be studying at the vocational school next door. On this day, he was kept back by the teacher to recite words due to his mistakes during the dictation of English words. He went home very late. Qin Nian was on duty and also went home late.
Lu Fengyang was blocked by these people in the alley near the school. The other people saw he was alone and wanted to beat him up. Qin Nian left school and happened to witness this scene. As Lu Fengyang was about to be beaten, he acted bravely and offered his help.
This was the opportunity for the two protagonists in the novel to turn from strangers to friends. It was a very crucial scene.
Director Liu called the two leading actors over and patiently told them, “Remember the actions and flow that the teacher taught you in the afternoon. Let go in the fight and the extras will cooperate. As long as the action is in place, everything else will be handled by us later. In particular, Cheng Xia. I know you don’t usually fight with people. Don’t be too stiff in this scene.”
Cheng Xia nodded earnestly. “Director Liu, don’t worry. As a child, I often fought with people. I remember the teacher’s words and will try to be as natural as possible.”
Shen Kai glanced at him doubtfully. “Really? You fought?”
Cheng Xia smiled and rubbed his wrists. “My winning rate against alphas when I was a child was 6:4. They couldn’t beat me. Later, I became an omega. My father was strict and I didn’t fight after I turned 16.”
Shen Kai raised a fist. “I admire it, admire it. Please look after this alpha who doesn’t like to fight.”
Director Liu saw them chatting with smiles on their faces and found they weren’t as awkward as in the morning. His heart was relieved and he gestured. “Start the work!”
At night, the lights were on and the deep and narrow alley was in front of them. Shen Kai carried his bag on one shoulder and hummed as he walked forward. Suddenly, a few black shadows appeared and blocked his way. His footsteps stopped and his eyes narrowed while he joked, “What is this? Robbing for money or sex?”
A person with a lollipop in his mouth smirked. “Isn’t this Lu Fengyang? Why are you alone? Where are your brothers? Didn’t they do their homework with you?”
Shen Kai quickly entered the scene and he raised his eyebrow. “Who are you?”
A boy with glasses pointed at his head and spoke coldly, “You forgot so soon? The three stitches on my head are thanks to you. Today, let’s settle old accounts.”
The group soon surrounded him. Shen Kai realized something was wrong and slammed his bag back. The schoolbag smashed into the face of the person behind him. This was followed by a long sweep of his legs and he knocked the person next to him to the ground.
This series of actions had been carefully checked at noon and were performed in slow motion. The extras were also cooperative and Shen Kai acted smoothly and naturally. It was one against five and a fierce battle occurred in the alley.
Cheng Xia walked to the intersection, saw the scene in the alley and stopped with a slight frown. Suddenly, an alpha in the alley raised his head and faced Cheng Xia. The camera immediately zoomed in to capture their micro-expressions.
Shen Kai saw Cheng Xia’s school uniform, recognized it as a fellow student and hurriedly exclaimed, “Don’t fucking meddle in my business!”
Cheng Xia smiled, made a ‘please help yourself;’ and turned away.
Shen Kai was taken aback like he hadn’t expected the other person to leave so simply. At this time, the boy next to him grabbed a stick and aimed it at his head. Shen Kai recovered and went to grab the opponent’s weapon. However, another man suddenly grabbed his waist. His movements were slow and he just managed to avoid being hit in a vital spot. Instead, the stick smashed firmly into his shoulder!
Shen Kai let out a groan of pain. It was one against five. He might be fierce and sharp but he was outnumbered. The opponents crowded him and he soon fell into a disadvantage. The bruised Shen Kai’s eyes became fiercer. He fought back like a crazy beast but he was soon put down by the five opponents and blocked into a corner.
Just then, under the lights at the entrance of the alley, a figure appeared. The teenager who walked toward the alphas step by step was tall and had long legs. It wasn’t until he got closer that everyone realized. Wasn’t this the person just now? It was just that he had taken off his school uniform, put down his schoolbag and held a stick in his hand. Snow flew all over the sky and fell on his body as his eyes calmly swept around the area.
The group was dumbfounded for a moment. Then the young man smiled and used the stick to knock an alpha next to him to the ground! Then he snatched the weapon from the man wearing glasses, threw it at Lu Fengyang and raised his chin. “Next!”
One against five became two against five.
Liu Xueyi was watching Cheng Xia’s performance and he wanted to clap. He had been worried that as an omega, Cheng Xia wouldn’t be able to release himself in this fighting scene. After all, most omegas were relatively gentle and didn’t like to fight. Unexpectedly, Cheng Xia’s moves were so neat and tidy. He completed the action in one go and was smooth like professional actors!
Next to him, Lemongrass smiled like a mother, her eyes gentle. “Cheng Xia is an omega, how can he fight so fiercely? These actions are too neat. Once the post-production makes the speed twice as fast, he will definitely be handsome enough to turn all the heads in the audience.”
Liu Xueyi had a complicated expression. “He said he loved fighting when he was a child. It seems it was true…”
This was actually an omega with explosive combat effectiveness. Cheng Xia’s future dramas were really unlimited!
Pei Shaoze’s schedule was still very tight. In addition to meeting with the school leaders of Ya’an’s private high schools to discuss the cost and time of borrowing a venue, he also found a person from the local tourism bureau and went around to choose some spots suitable for filming.
Director Liu had been too busy lately so Pei Shaoze wanted to get all the venues decided before the crew came to Ya’an.
Pei Shaoyan followed his brother around all the time and found that his brother was extremely efficient. He could always solve the most problems in the shortest time. Pei Shaoyan didn’t say anything but he really admired such a brother.
After dinner, the two of them returned to the hotel.
Pei Shaoze didn’t bring Zhang Fan on this business trip. He only brought his younger brother along because he wanted his brother to gain more experience. Fortunately, his younger brother had become much more sensible during this period of time. He no longer mentioned that group of friends and would carefully check the information at night. After they returned to their hotel, the two of them would sit at the table and turn on the laptops. Pei Shaoze set an example and Pei Shaoyan could only follow his brother to work on the computer.
It wasn’t known how much time passed before Pei Shaoze’s phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID and answered. “Zhou Yan, what’s the matter?”
Pei Shaoze heard the other side’s voice and frowned abruptly. “What did you say?”
Pei Shaoyan glanced at his brother in a puzzled manner and found that his brother’s face had become extremely ugly in an instant. Pei Shaoze got up, his eyes were deep. “Is he okay? ….What are you hesitating about? Go to the hospital immediately!”
The stern voice scared Pei Shaoyan into immediately sitting up straight. He pricked his ears and listened.
Pei Shaoze put the phone to his ear while turning his back to the table. He leaned over and quickly threw clothes into the suitcase while speaking with a cold face, “Where were the extras found from? Who is responsible for the scene tonight and who brought in a knife? Check it carefully for me! You must follow it to the end and give me an answer tomorrow!”
It was like the fast forward button had been pressed as he soon packed his suitcase in two or three moves.
Pei Shaoze straightened and closed the suitcase with a ‘bang’, his voice cold and harsh. “Give the phone to Director Liu… Director Liu, it’s me. Make sure the crew keeps their mouths shut and don’t cause a big fuss about this matter. Send Cheng Xia to Binjiang Private Hospital first.”
He hung up and glanced at his brother. “Pack up and go to the airport.”
Pei Shaoyan had never seen his brother’s face so ugly. There was a type of suppressed anger in his cold eyes that caused a chill to go down Pei Shaoyan’s back. He quickly turned around to pack up and followed his brother. Pei Shaoze asked the hotel to arrange a special car to take them to the airport.
On the way, Pei Shaoze called Zhang Fan. “Help me change my flight tickets to tonight.”
Zhang Fan was stunned. “President Pei, wasn’t your trip to Ya’an scheduled for three days? You finished arranging things so soon?”
Pei Shaoze frowned. “It isn’t finished yet. I will come back in a few days. Change my ticket back to Rong City as soon as possible tonight.”
Zhang Fan heard that his voice wasn’t quite right and hurriedly said, “Understood. I’ll do it for you now!”
A short time later, a message popped up on his phone that his ticket had been changed successfully. He was originally booked to return to Rong City three days later but it changed to a flight at 10 o’clock tonight. There were two hours before the flight took off.
Pei Shaoyan asked in a low voice, “Brother, has something happened to Cheng Xia?”
Pei Shaoze only whispered one word. “Yes.”
He always thought he was a very calm person and wouldn’t be nervous no matter what happened. Then just now, he heard Zhou Yan say on the phone in a trembling voice, “President Pei, Cheng Xia was injured while filming! There was a problem with the knife prepared by the props team. I don’t know who brought a real knife in. Cheng Xia was stabbed…”
At that moment, his brain buzzed and he became dizzy for a moment.
Cheng Xia was the protagonist of this world. Once Cheng Xia had an accident, Pei Shaoze wouldn’t be able to complete the task and would be obliterated by the book transmigration system. However, he didn’t think about these things at all. He completely forgot about the setting. He imagined Cheng Xia bloody and pale and his heart seemed to be pulled out hard by both hands and then strangled tightly with a rope!
He forgot to breathe in at that moment. Panic and heartache that had never appeared before hit his mind like a huge wave. The little seedling he raised and cherished in the palm of his hand was stabbed? He could actually get hurt while shooting a school drama? What the hell was the crew doing? He had only been away for a day and this happened?!
He really held back his anger while wishing to swallow the people of the props group alive. Bringing a real knife to a shooting scene—were their brains eaten by dogs?
Pei Shaoze’s face was gloomy and terrible. The atmosphere around him was so strong that Pei Shaoyan didn’t dare say anything…
Previously, he had seen his brother angry but his angry brother would stomp around in a thunderous manner or use alcohol to relieve his feelings. Pei Shaoyan had never seen his brother silent like today, eyes cruel and cold. It was as if a fierce beast was suppressing his anger.
Pei Shaoyan was anxious. Looking at his brother’s expression, Cheng Xia’s accident this time should be quite serious. Over the past few days, Pei Shaoyan had become familiar with the people in the crew. He added their WeChat accounts, including Cheng Xia’s assistant Xu Rongrong. Pei Shaoyan quickly typed a few words and sent a message to the other person. [Sister Rong, I’m with President Pei. What happened to Cheng Xia? What is the situation on the set?]
Xu Rongrong quickly replied, [During the filming of a fight scene tonight, he was accidentally stabbed with a knife. The director is furious and is looking for the source of the knife. Zhou Yan and I are taking him to the hospital first. We’ll talk later.]
Pei Shaoyan’s heart thumped and he couldn’t help inwardly cursing, ‘Fuck! Is the props crew fucking blind? Can an actor be stabbed by a knife?!’
The knives and guns in TV series were fake. In particular, those that stabbed into the human body used retractable knives with springs. The person appeared to be stabbed when the spring actually retracted. Cheng Xia being stabbed was definitely a problem with the props team!
Pei Shaoze also knew this scene. He had read the script. Lu Fengyang fought with others and Qin Nian rescued Lu Fengyang when passing by. They changed from ‘heard of each other’ to ‘becoming acquaintances and friends’. This snowy night was the true beginning of the entire story.
Pei Shaoze had seen many group scenes in reality. Hundreds of people carried swords but there was never a problem. How could he know that such a simple scene would actually hurt Cheng Xia?! For the first time, he realized what it meant to be ‘anxious.’
The thought of Cheng Xia being injured by a knife made him restless. Perhaps he had put too much effort into Cheng Xia treating him as a seedling and patiently growing him. Therefore, he heard Cheng Xia was injured and felt distressed and angry. It was as if he received a call from the head teacher saying ‘your child fought with others at school and was beaten’. Perhaps it was the same as the heart of a parent?
Pei Shaoze understood this strange anxiety as a ‘parental mentality.’
He frowned and called Qin Yu. “Qin Yu, someone will send Cheng Xia to Binjiang Private Hospital in 30 minutes. You help take care of him. He was injured by a knife but I don’t know the specific injuries. Call me after you see him.”
Qin Yu was stunned. “Cheng Xia? This name is so familiar… right, is it the one who was in your bed last time…”
Pei Shaoze interrupted him. “Yes.”
Qin Yu made a strange expression for a moment. Then he said, “I see. I’m on the night shift tonight. I’ll go to the emergency department to see.”
After hanging up the phone, there still wasn’t any improvement in the expression on Pei Shaoze’s face.
Pei Shaoyan gulped and spoke in a low voice, “Brother, don’t worry too much. It is winter and Cheng Xia is dressed thickly. The knife wound shouldn’t be too deep…”
Pei Shaoze didn’t answer. If he remembered correctly, the fruit knife that the gangster in this scene took out was originally to stab Lu Fengyang and Qin Nian helped block it. According to the scene, this knife should’ve stabbed Qin Nian’s shoulder.
However, Zhou Yan was so nervous on the phone just now. It obviously wasn’t the shoulder that was stabbed. If the extra’s hand slipped or Cheng Xia made a mistake and moved incorrectly, the knife could move down and then the heart…
The more Pei Shaoze thought about it, the more anxious he became. He clenched his fists tightly and tried to calm himself down. Even so, he found that at this moment, he who had always been calm actually couldn’t control his panic.
Proofreader: Cat
